Calving

A female bowhead will give birth approximately every three to four years. Although mating - a boisterous affair occurring in groups of several males and one or two females - has been observed year round, most calves are conceived in the late winter or early spring, and are born the following year during the spring migration.

Calves are born knowing how to swim, shooting towards the surface to take their first breath only moments after being born. They spend their early years swimming close to their mothers, carried along in their mother's slipstream.